EURO 2012 DELAYS IN FOCUS

UEFA President Michel Platini arrived in Lviv on 7 April on the first leg of a Euro 2012 inspection tour of the country which culminated with the former French midfield maestro issuing Ukrainian officials with yet another deadline. Platini has found himself forced to read repeated lectures on punctuality to Ukrainian officials since the country was awarded the right to co-host the 2012 championships in April 2007, and chief among his concerns at present are the delayed construction works at the Kyiv and Lviv stadium sites. Meanwhile, the recently elected Yanukovych administration in Kyiv has been keen to introduce a new dynamic to Ukraine’s preparations and recently announced a multi-billion dollar injection of cash from the 2010 state budget to help finance crucial Euro 2012 infrastructure projects including Lviv’s new international airport. Plans are also afoot for a national lottery to raise state financing for Euro 2012 projects. The new government’s Euro 2012 Tsar, Deputy PM Boris Kolesnikov, confirmed in early April that the much delayed Lviv stadium project would now be handled by a team led by Dr. Chris Martin, the man responsible for construction of the Donbass Arena in Donetsk.